12 more free trade zones approved for China

China has given the green light for 12 more free trade zones (FTZs) to be set up across the country after Shanghai’s FTZ went into operation last September and stirred up a moderate amount of enthusiasm among the masses.Tianjin Municipality and Guangdong province are among places given the okay to set up FTZs, an official source said in report by the Xinhua-run Economic Information Daily, although the locations for the other 10 have not yet been disclosed.“China sets no limits on FTZ numbers and no timetables on building them, as long as they meet the requirements of an FTZ,” the source said.According to Xinhua:

After consent from the cabinet, a group of central government departments will conduct a jointsurvey of the proposed zones, and hammer out specific establishment plans in a process thatmay last more than a year, said the source.

So far, Tianjin and Guangdong have completed the survey part, which the other 10 have juststarted, according to the source.

Provincial regions including Zhejiang, Shandong, Liaoning, Henan, Fujian, Sichuan, Guangxiand Yunnan, and cities including Suzhou, Wuxi and Hefei have all said that filing FTZapplications is high up their 2014 priority list.

“China sets no limits on FTZ numbers and no timetables on building them, as long as theymeet the requirements of an FTZ,” added the source.

Meanwhile, Shanghai’s mayor has said that the city’s number one task this year is to make substantial progress on the city’s FTZ.“All the city’s strength and resources must be fully utilised to ensure the successful running of the zone, because it is an important national strategy,” Yang Xiong said in a meeting of the city’s legislature earlier this month. “We will seek substantial progress with pilot reforms.”The establishment of Shanghai’s FTZ, covering a 29-square-kilometer area in Pudong, notably promised an unrestrained exchange of yuan renminbi within the zone and a temporary lift on the country’s video game console ban and was a trial to tap market forces and push market-oriented trade and investment reforms. Apparently the trial was considered successful enough to extend it.Please, contain your excitement and carry on with your day.[Image Credit: shenxy]